After my death our beloved Church abroad will break three ways ... first the Greeks will leave us as they were never a part of us ... then those who live for this world and its glory will go to Moscow ... what will remain will be those souls faithful to Christ and His Church.~St. Philaret of NY

In today's Gospel reading, we hear the story of Zacchaeus, who was and is a model for us all.

To recount:

And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.

And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to guest with a man that is a sinner.

And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for somuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

My friends, it may seem strange that Christ enters into this house, and this man who suddenly gives nearly all his riches and belongings to the poor and those whom he has stolen from, had any sin to repent of. would any of us do such a thing? Do we considerer ourselves virtuous enough to give so fully as Zacchaeus?

Nikolai Velomirivich, a new Chrysostom, explains that “Repentance is the abandoning of all false paths that have been trodden by mans feet, and mens thoughts and desires, and a return to the new path: Christ's path. But how can a sinful man repent unless he, in his heart, meets with the Lord and knows his own shame? Before little Zacchaeus saw the Lord with his eyes. he met Him in his heart and was ashamed of all his ways."

and

“Notice the way in which Zacchaeus confessed his sin. He did not say: ‘Lord. I am a sinful man!', or 'Avarice is my sickness!' No; but, showing the fruits of repentance, he thus confessed his sin and his sickness: 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.' Is not this a clear confession that riches are his passion? 'And if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” is not this a clear confession that his riches were acquired in a sinful manner? He did not, before this, say to the Lord: 'I am a sinner, and I repent.' He confessed this silently to the Lord in his heart, and the Lord silently received his confession and repentance. It is of more importance to the Lord that a man acknowledge and confess his sickness and cry for help in his heart than with this tongue, for the tongue is capable of deception, but the heart is not."

And as Christ was entering in -- to both Zacchaeus’ heart and home -- we see an example, as St. John Chrysostom so eloquently put it, how we should adorn our hearts in repentance: “And that thou mayest learn that this is, above all, a house's adorning, enter into the house of Zacchaeus, and learn, when Christ was on the point of entering therein, how Zacchaeus adorned it. For he did not run to his neighbors begging curtains, and seats, and chairs made of ivory, neither did he bring forth from his closets Laconian hangings; but he adorned it with an adorning suitable to Christ. What was this? 'The half of my goods I will give,' he saith, 'to the poor; and whomsoever I have robbed, I will restore fourfold' (Luke xix. 8). On this wise let us too adorn our houses, that Christ may enter in unto us also. These are the fair curtains, these are wrought in Heaven, they are woven there. Where these are, there is also the King of Heaven. But if thou adorn it in another way, thou art inviting the devil and his company.”

So what, my friends, is the Throne awaiting Christ in our hearts, that He may sit upon? That throne is humility, and it is adorned with charity and self sacrifice. If only we keep the doors of our inward home open to Him, He will come in and dwell, and we will find ourselves constantly in the Kingdom of God.

Again. the blessed Nikolai of Serbia explains to us:

"'Today, salvation has come to this house.' (Luke 19:9). Thus it was spoken by the One Whose word is life and joy and restoration of the righteous. Just as the bleak forest clothes itself into greenery and flowers from the breath of spring, so does every man, regardless of how arid and darkened by sin, becomes fresh and youthful from the nearness of Christ. For the nearness of Christ is as the nearness of some life-giving and fragrant balsam which restores health, increases life, give fragrance to the soul, to the thoughts and to the words of man. In other words, distance from Christ means decay and death and His nearness means salvation and life.

"'Today salvation has come to this house,' said the Lord upon entering the house of Zacchaeus the sinner. Christ was the salvation that came and Zacchaeus was the house into which He entered. Brethren, each one of us is a house in which sin dwells as long as Christ is distant and to which salvation comes when Christ approaches it. Nevertheless, will Christ approach my house and your house? That depends on us. Behold, He did not arbitrarily enter the house of the sinner Zacchaeus, rather He entered as a most desired guest. Zacchaeus of little stature climbed into a tree in order to see the Lord Jesus with his own eyes. Zacchaeus, therefore, sought him; Zacchaeus desired Him. We must also seek Him in order to find Him and desire Him in order that He would draw nearer to us and, with our spirit, to climb high in order to encounter His glance. Then He will visit our house as He visited the house of Zacchaeus and with Him salvation will come."

My friends, God knows our hearts. and desires to dwell in them. If only we live a life of continual repentance and seeking out Christ's will when He calls us and invites us, He will grant all the blessings we could ask for, and in turn make us members in His household.

When we move and live and breath with God inside our hearts, with Him ruling as the King therein, we have only blessedness to look forward to.

May all blessedness and love be yours. And with that blessedness, let us seek out those who are lost just as we were, and bring them home to Christ’s Kingdom. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Memorial for newly reposed, Isaac Lambertson, a missionary giant (from our old-ROCOR, who has passed from us), among modern Orthodox Liturgical Translators-

Dan Everiss

Sat, Jan 28, 2017 at 12:33 PM

May his good deeds go before him! and may God forgive all the rest!

-even as we must also ask for our own souls, when we pass over.

IN MEMORIAM:

As to exactly 'why'?,[for all possible guessed-at reasons], he, and a number of others from the old ROCOR, did not physically flee the 2007 apostasy to the MP, is not clear at this point, except from what his long-time close co-worker, Jordanville Monastery resident, Fr. Laurence Campbell now also departed, [who also had worked for years, in tandem with Isaac on English liturgical translation work], -aided for years too, in their joint group translation efforts, by behind the scenes, Reader Daniel Olson's language expertise/advice, in both Russian and English and Church Slavonic and liturgical Greek, and also he being a Typikon expert in both the Russian and Greek Typikons, and in the Lives of the Saints and the Church Calendar, etc.- ... had told me in an informal impromptu & frank long phone conversation that I had with him at Jordanville, several years ago: in Fr. Charles' case, [though he gave me his semi-guarded but distinct impression that he was not in favor, in his heart, of the union] but....he could not physically, in his old age and declining ill-health, leave his only earthly home-his support base, Jordanville Monastery, as the monastery paid for all of his medical bills, fed and sheltered him, and as he told me, he was 'too old to go anywhere else'. With Isaac Lambertson too, he had lived and grown old, at the New York Synod headquarters for many long years, and he probably felt, in his declining old age, that he also, 'had no where else to go'. They will have his funeral there, it appears, served by ROCOR/MP Hilarion Kapral, who recently gave him the monastic tonsure, as Monk Joseph.

Why should we care?... we whom God has especially blessed & permitted to perceive and to see and to understand and to flee that 2007 apostasy to the, still enslaved, Stalin-created, 'Moscow Patriarchy'?

Because: dedicated Isaac Lambertson accomplished many long years of pious and constant and heroic liturgical translations of most of our major and lesser Orthodox Service books, and related Orthodox spiritual texts, into a proper and refined dignified liturgical-English, for the worship use and inspiration of our vast English-speaking Orthodox people. We know of those hidden unseen by the public, efforts, largely through what newly departed Fr. Gregory Williams [a close long-time co-worker with both Isaac Lambertson and Fr. Charles Campbell], has had put into printed book form and has made available to us, through his St. John of Kronstadt Press. Those foreign Orthodox liturgical translators too, in other countries, on making & printing Orthodox liturgical texts in their modern western languages, such as in French, Spanish, etc, etc, etc., have utilized his translated texts to guide their work.

"To ere is human, to forgive is divine!"

So, MAY GOD!, WHO alone knows our hearts, and WHO ALONE has the power to forgive all sins, bless newly reposed Isaac Lambertson's soul and grant him forgiveness of all of his sins, and if it be possible, and....

Grant his soul rest, where the light of God's countenance shall perpetually shine on him!

Br. Isaac did much translating of English Services and also he composed many services. His menaion translations have been subjected to copyright abuse by certain people (some aware, others unaware) in world Orthodoxy. I know from what Fr. Gregory told me that in his last years (as the internet increased) Br. Isaac's health declined progressively. He also suffered with extreme financial difficulty because of medical bills.

Two things I can share without trespassing on his copyrights:

Translated: Russian History of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

Early this morning we heard from New York of the repose yesterday of the Monk Joseph,
who was perhaps much better known as Brother Isaac. For many years he
had lived at the old Synodal Residence of the Russian Church Abroad in
NYC, and served there as a chanter and reader. He is perhaps best known
in the wider Orthodox world as the composer of numerous services to the
Saints, particularly the Saints of the pre-schism West, and it was
undoubtedly for this reason that when he was tonsured a few weeks ago,
as his end approached, he was named after St. Joseph the Hymnographer,
having formerly been named for the Venerable Isaac the Syrian. He visited
England on numerous occasions, making pilgrimages to holy places, and
was a tremendous help to our community specially in its early years and
during the long-protracted dispute in the Courts regarding the Sacred
Relics of St. Edward the Martyr. For this reason we have always
considered him one of our principal benefactors and founders.

Please remember Father Joseph in your prayers that he be granted rest with the Saints and Memory Eternal.

Commencement address delivered at Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, New York, in June 1978

by Vladimir Sokolov-Samarin

The Church and the National Rebirth of Russia

The history of the Russian Orthodox Church is inseparable from the history of Russia. The torch of Orthodoxy has illuminated our 1000-year path, and it is no exaggeration to say that Russia would not exist without the Church.

The baptism of Russia represents the date of birth of the new man, purified from the defilement of paganism. It is the date of birth of a nation as a unified whole.

The process of purification of the national soul was a protracted process, but an irreversible one. When the Church overcame paganism, she established new mutual relations between people in the family and in society: relations founded on compassion and charity to ones neighbor. The Church also established new juridical norms in the State, founded on right and justice. The Church transformed and consecrated our art and raised it up to spiritual heights. Today, in our unspiritual times, it still enthralls the world. Further, the Church has inspired our literature. Without the Church, there would not have been the great prophet, Dostoyevsky.

Thus, the baptism of Russia was the date of the birth of a nation: it was the beginning of the formation of the State which has undergone the great trials of wars between princes, of the Tartar yoke, of internal discord and foreign invasions.

And all the trials that have fallen to our lot were overcome by our ancestors.

While the Church has inspired the people to labor and to military feats, and her ascetics and saints have blessed and sanctified them, we must acknowledge that historical sins dot Russia's historical path –– from the tyranny of those in power to popular riots which, in Pushkin's words, were meaningless and merciless. Furthermore, in the 18th century, the historically formed relations between Church and State were needlessly upset. Even some of our hierarchs and pastors have not been without blemish.

That section of the ruling class which for so long opposed the pressing reform of the liberation of the serfs wrought much evil. But even more evil was brought by the radical intelligentsia –– Russian and non-Russian –– which must bear the moral responsibility for the senseless murder of the Tsar-Liberator and for the massacre of our last Tsar and his family. This worst part of the intelligentsia is entirely responsible for the catastrophe of 1917 and for everything that followed from it.

The years of the First World War were years of great hope. They were years of an unusual increase in industry, in workers' standards of living, and of improvement of their legal position. They were years when thousands of peasants became independent farmers and their prosperity improved. Finally they were years of spiritual enlightenment of the best part of the intelligentsia. But a war which was fatal for Russia ––and not only for Russia –– had begun and all hope faded.

The catastrophe was not slow to burst forth. To those to whom it was given to see the future, it was not unexpected. The elders of Optina foretold it, St. John of Kronstadt spoke about it, Dostoyevsky saw it with a prophet's spiritual view. A decade before, he had seen them, the demons, the enemies of Russia, the enemies of the Church, the bearers of the evil spirit. "And this evil spirit is near at hand," Dostoyevsky wrote. "Our children will see it."

He wrote about the revolution which destroyed Russia and shook the whole world. He foresaw the enormity of the catastrophe which claimed a hundred million lives. Who knows what sacrifices were borne by the Russian people? A horrible number of people have been tortured and shot, exterminated in prisons and concentration camps, or have died from hunger or been killed in wars. But no less horrible are the spiritual losses: the gaps in the national religious consciousness, the consciousness of the youth which has been perverted by the school system and atheistic propaganda.

From the first days of its existence, the godless government has regarded religion as its main enemy. From its very first days, this government has attacked religion and the faithful have suffered such repressions as mankind has not witnessed since the time of the persecutions of the first Christians. The religious persecution of the beginning of the 20th century, which eased for a short time, was renewed with great fervor during the 30's.

The religious upsurge during the Second World War and the widespread opening of churches on territory occupied by the Germans forced the government to take hitherto unprecedented steps: thousands of churches were opened throughout the country and believers and unbelievers turned to them in order to find faith.

When the danger passed, the government resumed its attacks on religion and the faithful. During the years of Kruschev's administration, for ten years, from 1957 to 1967, approximately 15,000 churches were closed and destroyed. From this time, the persecution continued with unremitting vigor: for their faith, people were incarcerated in prisons and concentration camps, or were tortured in psychiatric hospitals. All measures were taken to prevent the opening of new churches.

"For every active church," Solzhenitsyn wrote in his open letter to the head of the Moscow Patriarchate, "twenty have been demolished and destroyed, twenty are desolate and despoiled. Is there a sight more heart-rending than these skeletons which have become the domain of birds? How many settlements are there throughout the country where there is no church closer than a hundred or even two hundred kilometers away? And the North has been left entirely without churches . . ."

Indeed, this is a heart-rending sight which justifiably leads one to despair.

"We are bearing a yoke," the Russian patriot and nationalist Vladimir Ossipov wrote, "which is not ours and not of our making: it is oppressing us and violating us and for this yoke we are insulted and slighted as though it were a national sin."

We are well aware that there was no majority of Russians among the ruling clique that seized control in Russia. But let us not disclaim responsibility on our own part, on the part of our radical intelligentsia who betrayed the interests of Russia, on the part of our people who did not throw off the yoke from around their neck –– the yoke that Vladimir Ossipov speaks -about. We are all, each of us, guilty –– each is to blame.

But the patience of a great nation is great –– as great as the patience of our Lord. The l.ord is longsuffering, says one of Solzhenitsyn's heroes, but when His patience is exhausted, He punishes severely. One should not look at what happened in the years of Stalin's administration, when Lenin's entourage was destroyed, from a rationalist point of view. These events had a providential character. Stalin destroyed millions of innocent people but at the same time exterminated others like himself. The demons annihilated the demons.

"In your bosom, my Russia,

There is also a quiet, clear spring;

It also streams forth life-giving waters,

And is hidden, unknown but mighty."

These lines by the Russian poet and philosopher Khomiakov, written more than a century ago, resound as though written now, when the sensitive Russian ear hears the almost inaudible noise of rebirth, still concealed from many but which, we believe, will be a mighty spring.

Perhaps it is still early to speak about a complete religious rebirth of Russia, but there are distinct stirrings that can be felt. There are many witnesses to this who are coming out of Russia. Among them is one confessor of the faith, famous around the world, an intrepid champion of the faith, Fr. Dimitry Dudko. For example, this is what he says in his "Thoughts from my Notebooks":

"The great grief that has befallen the Russian land is beginning to open the eyes of Russians. They are becoming disappointed with what has taken place, they complain about what they have lost and in particular they are turning their gaze to the Orthodox Church."

In his book, Our Hope, Father Dimitry writes, "Glory to God. there are more and more believers; soon the atmosphere will be purified. There are believers everywhere, amongst the simple and learned, in educational establishments, in work organizations, amongst Party members and non-Party members."

Russia is under a government which is satanic

Russia is under a government which is satanic in essence and which intends to try to stifle every free word by a high-powered apparatus of violence and propaganda, and thus suppress everything that lives. Fr. Dimitry prophetically writes, "fresh, purifying spirit must come from the Russians."

Evgeny Vagin has said, "His hope is shared by the participants in the Russian Christian movement, who each make their own small contribution to the common cause of the rebirth of Russia's Orthodox consciousness."

This evidence of Fr. Dimitry and Vagin is all the more important in that it is not the evidence of foreign observers, but of the very participants in this movement.

Perhaps it is too early to speak of national rebirth in its full sense, but there is evidence that this process of rebirth is beginning. The magazine Veche, whose editor Vladimir Ossipov is languishing in prison, testifies to it. The program of the Pan-Russian Social Christian Union for the Liberation of the People –– whose head is Igor Ogourtsov, one of the countless Russian martyrs who are perishing in a communist torture-chamber, speaks about it. Some of the participants in the movement for the national rebirth of Russia see the future state structure in traditional monarchist terms. Thus, we can speak about the merging process which is both religious and national. And we can not only speak, we must cooperate in this process with all our strength, according to the ability of each of us. And we must believe, as our prophets, writers and poets, beginning with the great Dostoyevsky, have believed.

Our Russian Church Abroad is the free part of the persecuted Russian Orthodox Church. We are all obliged, hierarch as well as laymen –– as we have always been obliged –– to preserve our Church as a cradle of true Orthodoxy. And we are all obliged, as we always have been, to preserve loyalty to the historical Russia, and at the same time, to live with her present misfortunes, to help her stand against an alien government, to help our suffering brothers in the homeland and to listen attentively to their voice. Moreover, we must stand without wavering, as we have stood until now, in this world that surrounds us.

The Russian emigration, whose history is closely connected with the history of the Church Abroad, is dispersed throughout the world. Our churches are to be found in most countries and their head, the First Hierarch and the Synod are right here in this country –– this "blessed" country, as it is sometimes called.

America and her great people are in fact blessed with the gifts of the earth, perhaps even more than is needed; but does man live by bread alone?

the "liberals" are on the same path as the communists

A notable American anti-communist, Clarence Carson, has painted a truly tragic picture of the total blackout of consciousness on the part of millions of Americans, by those who control the mass media: the press, radio and television. He calls those who are in control "the liberals" and shows that they are on the same path as the communists and share the same driving force. He concludes that the death of communism will mean the death of liberalism. Fearing its death, liberalism does everything to preserve communism.

Is the American nation guilty of all this?

Is the great American nation guilty of all this? Yes, so far the great Russian nation is also guilty of allowing the seizure of power in Russia by the communists. None other than these same liberals –– in the press, in literature, in the universities –– for years have distorted and perverted the history of Russia, especially the history of the East pre-revolutionary decades. None other than these people have slandered and still slander our past, the historical Russia, and at the same time pose as devil's advocates. Perhaps it is they Fr. Dimitry Dudko refers to in the following words:

"They accuse Russia,

They hate Russia,

They spit at Russia,

And Russia suffers."

We live in a world that is externally and materially prosperous, but internally and spiritually bankrupt. In this world, our Church is periodically subjected to attacks from its sworn enemy, the Soviet regime, through its propaganda apparatus and its agents in the Moscow Patriarchate. Our hierarchs who lead the Church must have this great spirit and make great sacrifices –– and they do. Those who are setting out on the path of service to the Church, and through the Church, of service to Russia, have an enormous responsibility. Those who are in this hall, who have determined to devote themselves to the service of the Church, have an enormous responsibility, but the path is blessed.

I do not think it would be incorrect to say that all faithful sons of our Church are experiencing the same spiritual joy I feel as l greet you. Before you and before those who will come after you there lies a path that is not easy, but at the same time, filled with historical significance. It is the path to that harbor of refuge that is called the Approaching Rebirth of Russia.

Author: George Soldatov incl. January 20, 2017 . Published in a newspaper column (Views: 231)

From the Holy Scriptures we know how evil came into the world: one of the angels, consumed by the desire to be worshiped, disobedient to God, having become Satan - which means "adversary" other angels joined him, having become demons. Their aim was to turn everything God created is good for evil. When God created humans, Satan was able to tempt them to disobedience, for which a punishment people were deprived of the heavenly life, and expelled from paradise. But the Lord did not give up the love of man and in every way always takes care of him.

In January of this year, immediately after the Orthodox Christians celebrated the feast of Nativity in New York on a private estate "Mountain View" there gathered clergy and lay people, misled by the fact that if in the ROCA, occur canonical and disciplinary irregularities. The participants, called the meeting a great name, "All-Diaspora Council" and invited him not only the clergy and laity of the ROCOR, but also did not belong to the Church, including the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate and the sectarians. Organizers announced archly that "the Church must be saved" from seized power management Agafangel Metropolitan and Synod members. They have made numerous unfounded allegations, such as that introduced The Metropolitan assumption ordination second marriage in the priesthood.

In the past, some members of the Synod before there was an association of the Church with the MP, believed that the second marriage, having become monastics, after his stay of not less than six months on Mount Athos, repent, they can be forgiven of sin, and be ordained to the priesthood. So ordination second marriage, was introduced in the Synod already at Metropolitan Filaret long before the Agafangel Metropolitan became a member of the ROCOR. Assuming such an ordination, bishops of the ROCOR believed that it is better to do it than to close the parish and lose with the believers.

It is also easy to drop other charges as the Metropolitan is not justified and will not discuss them. But touch one of them. Metropolitan is accused, he intervenes in the affairs of other dioceses and even parishes. The accused can not imagine how Lord Agafangel kind and considerate to the clergy and laity of the ROCOR. They should be grateful to God and to His Eminence for rendered them attention and love. He took part in the consecration of bishops and ordination of the majority of priests who gave a promise of fidelity to Christ's teaching, and the subordination of the ROCOR Synod. Now it seems that the promise of fidelity and obedience to the gathering at the "Cathedral" forgotten.

Since many of the clergy and the laity remember the Soviet persecution of religion, when clerics were exiled and even shot, in those old days, the clergy and the laity to hide their allegiance to the Church. Not to hide from the authorities and the environment clergy, held at the Patriarchate. For this reason, some of the clergy and laity, and after the division of the USSR in the Republic continued his usual life as in the power of the soviets. Monasticism continued to live with relatives, went to service or labor in the enterprise, as well as other people. Coming home, they read the newspapers, watched TV, justifying that it is necessary to know what is happening in the world. Their monastic life is to read morning and evening prayers, neyadenii meat and fasting. About monastic rules they knew little, because they have not learned it yet. Should not blame them, they are doing something that used to reign in the country of the communist government. Therefore the Lord Agafangel often had to correct to make mistakes, to teach clerics and laity. After all, imagine that every person will have to give account on the Day of Judgement for their actions, a priest for himself, his family and parishioners that he had to teach, and Bishop is the answer for the need to keep all of its clergy and laity. This is a great responsibility! Therefore, seeing the irregularities, who knows more than other clergy, and the canons of the church practice, Vladyka Metropolitan Agafangel had to intervene and help in different dioceses and parishes. He did so on their responsibilities and the desire to lead the souls of believers on the right path to the salvation of their souls.

Gathered at the "Cathedral" probably does not represent what they are by their actions to the disorder of the small part of the ROCOR, which has maintained its independence from the MP, keeping what was in the Russian Church and to the Holy Patriarch Tikhon. By its actions against the Metropolitan Synod and they help in what has not yet been reached for the destruction of the Church to make the MP. Therefore, their meeting may be called as a predatory - anti-clerical. The Metropolitan and the Synod of ROCOR indicated gathered at the "Cathedral" in their error and offered by repenting of sins committed to submit to the spiritual authorities of the ROCOR.

The participants expressed their dissatisfaction with the punishment made by the Metropolitan. I recall some of the clergy took place penalty. In the camp near Munich in Shleysgaym 114 barracks, where I lived with my parents and took each one large room: Metropolitan Panteleimon and the Archbishop Benedict ruled during the Second World War on the territory occupied by German troops by the Church in Belarus and Ukraine. Bishop Benedict taught me to read in Church Slavonic, and I read to him at bedtime prayers. Often I was in their rooms, doing correspondence of different securities. Once, in my presence, Vladyka Metropolitan was not happy and Archbishop reprimanded for what he had done some orders Ukrainian and Belarusian clergy, without asking for it before the blessing. For it has imposed on the Metropolitan Archbishop of penance, and he apologized for the mistake.

I remember how it was at the Holy Trinity Monastery, where Archbishop Vitaly (Maksimenko) punished for the mistake of Archimandrite, forcing him to put bows. Also, did the Archbishop Averky chastise one of Archimandrite, forcing him to bow down on their knees to several monks and ask forgiveness. I remember as a priesthood, the Lord punished for a week, set him on a herring, and water. A lot of memories, but usually the clergy knew that deserved condemnation and meekly took the punishment by the authorities as a well-deserved without protests and threats of transfer to another jurisdiction.

In order to complete the article chem-to remarkable that tell you about that, being sent as obedience to Archbishop Anthony (Grabbe) in Jerusalem, I stayed there for three months, living in the Russian Excavations have been less than 100 meters from the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, which is Calvary. I often went to the temple to pray. In most cases, he sat an old Metropolitan Patriarchate of Jerusalem, to which I turned to give me a blessing before entering the temple on the bench. Before I bless Bishop raised his eyes to heaven and said a prayer: "God, I thank you for what you give me the opportunity to bless Thy servant help him in good works" after which Lord blessed me. So let's blessing Metropolitan Jerusalem reminds me of how I saw casually blessing given clerics MP. Believers came to the priest, who blessed them, even they are not watching them standing sideways looking at the side. And now, when there will be an opportunity to take a look with some attention and love, he gives the blessing The Metropolitan Agafangel!

"I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"

(Matthew 16.18)

To summarize that which pertains to the recent schism, it is impossible not to notice a certain pattern (a trend) in the latest events. It seems that they were inevitable, and it would not have been possible to stop them. Previously, the same thing happened in the Russian Federation, and now in the USA, Canada and Australia. The next phase can be expected in Argentina. In the Ukraine, Moldova and Brazil, all is quiet and peaceful - no disturbances. Perhaps it is because the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina have a lot of newcomers from the former Soviet Union, while the Ukraine and Moldova have sharply distanced themselves from the Russian Federation, whereas in Brazil there are no "Russian newcomers" at all? I personally think that yes - that the immigrants from the former Soviet Union are a multifarious and dangerous mix, which contains a lot of diversities and specially introduced components into the environment, including anti-church elements. Nowadays, it is exactly in this milieu, that it is very easy and convenient to operate for those who wish to destroy the Church independently from any external forces. I do not want to analyze the new emigration and break it up into groups at this point – they are all different; one can find many positive factors, but also many negative ones can be found as well. The newcomers have almost completely replaced the old immigrants themselves in the old parishes, and it is they - not the old immigrants - who now decide the fate of the parishes and the parish properties. In France, where there also are many new immigrants who have joined us, in Cannes the parish with the old church wound up in the Moscow Patriarchate, but in Lyon everything is hanging on Protodeacon Herman. (May God grant him the perseverance).

Moreover, I think that it is fully possible that within a short time, all the large parishes of the Russian churches from "alternative" Orthodoxy will begin to drift off onto different paths, but towards the same goal – to the Church-state structure of the MP. In other words, I think we will lose all large (even to our understanding) properties. More correctly, this process has already been underway for over ten years right before our eyes. The Russian Federation is a sample of what will take place everywhere in the near future, but only wherever this structure can prevail and influence events.

***

Regarding the splintered from us heretics - they are presently very happy, they are left alone with their property (as expressed by Oleg Mironov – "колбасой – sausage.” This is a Russian saying which literally means “ selling out” for the sake of material goods or wealth.), and they foster the illusion that everything continues as before; services are served, more people join the parish: "Behold now, what is so good or so joyous as for brethren to dwell together in unity?" (Psalm 132) - now they have an illusion of a joyful life. But not for long, because to live and be happy for a long while without any canonical patristic foundation, and being devoid of the saving grace of the Holy spirit, will not work. A house built on sand will soon begin to crumble. The scriptures testify to this.

In as much as all of our numerous attempts at reconciliation and all of our exhortations were ignored by the heretics, we do not see any other way to call them to repentance, other than by completely disassociating ourselves from them as required by the church canons. We have no choice other than to fence ourselves off from a destructive heresy which contradicts the dogmas of the Church; and in spite of the confirmations of the Holy fathers, they claim that a schism does not exist. Therefore, we must cease all communication with the heretics, as required by paragraph 9 of Patriarch Tikhon’s Decree No. 362: "to break ecclesiastical communion with the disobedient", and as required by the Holy Universal Church: "who merely prays with heretics, let him be excommunicated" (Apostolic Rule 45).

Since bishop Irenaeus and three Izhevsk priests were prohibited from serving earlier, the question regarding their bans will be discussed at the next Bishops' Council.

According to the resolution of the Council of Bishops in 2016, all of the clergy listed above are forbidden to serve, and the laity listed above are banned from Holy Communion. According to the Canons (Apostolic rule 45), there can be no communion with these people in prayer, and equal punishment will be warranted by those who will pray together with them. Therefore, it is forbidden to visit the churches and parishes where those heretics and schismatics listed above serve.

What was said regarding heretics and schismatics has been established not by us, but by the Holy fathers and has been incorporated into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church since its inception.

We will further continue our path towards Christ with the fear of God, safeguarding the legacy of the fathers of the Russian Church Abroad, and guided by the words of Christ read from the Gospel today: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 4:17).

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THE SISTER CHURCHES

The True Orthodox Churches of Romania, and Bulgaria, and with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and with the Synod in Resistance, are called by the Grace of the Lord to coexist in Mysteriological communion.

from §4 of “Schedule of Steps in the Union Process” Feb. 2014

VL AGAFANGEL PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Theotokos and all the Saints: keep our souls unharmed from the destructive influences of globalism, ecumenism, and sergianism, and give all of us the strength to endure the latest onset of persecution of the Church of Christ. Amen

QUOTE

"I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you... I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”

St. John Chrysostom

QUOTE

"If we have a good priest (or bishop), we give thanks to God. If a bad one, we endure him".

- old Russian saying

QUOTE

"And here is something to which I would like to draw your attention to – something about which very many do not think about. Father Archimandrite Constantine, whom probably many of you know, the reposed editor of the journal “Orthodox Rus’”, a profound Christian mind, considered that the most terrible among all the achievements of the communists was that the communists created their own false-church, a soviet church which they shoved onto the unfortunate people in place of the genuine Church which went underground into the catacombs. Do not think that I am exaggerating or that Father Constantine was exaggerating!

Once, in the year 1918, a Pan-Russian Church Council was held. At this Council, the entire Pan-Russian Church together with its first holy hierarch, Patriarch Tikhon anathematized, excommunicated from the Church not only the theomachists and godless ones themselves, but also all those who would collaborate with them."

~St. Philaret of NY

QUOTE

"To the Russians abroad, it has been granted to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy, so that other peoples, seeing their good deeds, might glorify our Father Who is in heaven, and thus obtain salvation for themselves. But if it does not perform this purpose and even abases Orthodoxy by its life, the Diaspora will have before itself two paths: either to be converted to the path of repentance, having acquired forgiveness through prayer to God and being reborn spiritually and to being capable of giving rebirth to our suffering homeland; or else being rejected by God and remaining in banishment, persecuted by everyone, until gradually it will degenerate and disappear from the face of the earth."

from Vladika John's report to the All-Diaspora Sobor in 1938

QUOTE

The apostasy of our times, to a degree unique in Christian history, is proceeding not primarily by false teachings or canonical deviations, but rather by a false understanding of Orthodoxy on the part of those who may even be perfectly Orthodox in their dogmatic teaching and canonical situation. A correct "Orthodoxy" deprived of the Spirit of true Christianity—this is the meaning of Sergianism, and it cannot be fought by calling it a "heresy," which it is not, nor by detailing its canonical irregularities, which are only incidental to something much more important.

- Russia's Catacomb Saints

QUOTE

Let it not be thought, however, that I affirm that it is necessary to prize every peace. For I know that there is a splendid disagreement and the most destructive unanimity. Yet one must love a good peace which has a good purpose: unity with God.

-St. Gregory the Theologian

QUOTE

... To pious Christians the fact that the world has fallen into godlessness is to them obvious, and they are ready to see it as an unfortunate historical inevitability ...

Professor Viktor Trostinkov

QUOTE

If you want to have assurance that you are saved, repent now that you are young and healthy and it is manifest that you left sin while you were still able to sin. But if you persevere in sin into your old age, why then you did not leave sin, but rather sin left you.

St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

QUOTE

Live in peace not only with your friends, but also with your enemies; but only your personal enemies, and not the enemies of God.

St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves

QUOTE

Judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment.

St. John 7:24

QUOTE

"If Russia is not ressurrected, a new Golgotha threatens the whole world."

Priest Vladimir Evsukoff 1980†

QUOTE

A man who does not express a desire to link himself to the latest of the saints (in time) in all love and humility owing to a certain distrust in himself, will never be linked to the preceding saints and will not be admitted to their succession, even though he thinks he possesses all possible faith and love for God and for all His saints. He will be cast out of their midst, as one who refused to take humbly the place allotted to him by God before all time, and to link himself to that latest saint (in time) as God had disposed.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

QUOTE

SCOBA, to which world orthodoxy gives such great significance, reproaching us for not belonging to it, actually is in no way a canonical organ. The Russian Church Outside of Russia was invited to take part in these conferences; however, our Church refused to send representatives there after clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate were invited. "We never and nowhere will sit at one table with them; by this our spiritual communion with the Universal Church is not broken."

Archpriest George Grabbe 1969

QUOTE

"Let us always thank the Lord that we are in the Holy Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which throughout the 80 years of its existence has trodden the straight, royal path of God, without ever turning aside and losing its way."

QUOTE

The passions lying hidden in the soul provide the demons with the means of arousing impassioned thoughts in us. Then, fighting the intellect through these thoughts, they force it to give its assent to sin. When it has been overcome, they lead it to sin in the mind; and when this has been done they induce it, captive as it is, to commit the sin in action. Having thus desolated the soul by means of these thoughts, the demons then retreat, taking the thoughts with them, and only the spectre or idol of sin remains in the intellect. Referring to this our Lord says, 'When you see the abominable idol of desolation standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand)... (Matt 24:15). For man's intellect is a holy place and a temple of God in which the demons, having desolated the soul by impassioned thoughts, set up the idol of sin. That these things have already taken place in history no one, I think, who has read Josephus will doubt; though some say that they will also come to pass in the time of the Antichrist.

Philokalia

QUOTE

There are three things that impel us towards what is holy: natural instincts, angelic powers, and probity of intention. Natural instincts impel us, when, for example, we do to others what we would wish them to do to us (cf. Luke 6:31), or when we see someone suffering deprivation or in need and naturally feel compassion. Angelic powers impel us when, being ourselves impelled to something worthwhile, we find we are providentially helped and guided. We are impelled by probity of intention when, discriminating between good and evil, we choose the good.

Philokalia

QUOTE

The outward Gospel of social idealism is a symptom of loss of faith.

Fr. Seraphim Rose

QUOTE

Impurity of intellect consists first in having false knowledge, ...

Philokalia

QUOTE

Isn't Marx really the third of a trio with Darwin and Freud as a practical source in the war against revealed truth?

Fr. Seraphim Rose

Letters, 1972

QUOTE

QUOTE

To: ROCA members from the MP

"You have to understand that you have long been in a false church, which implants in its members' souls, a false spirituality, which in turn takes root and grows stronger and stronger, the longer a man stays in it."

Bishop Athanasius, 2014

QUOTE

Mankind has gone mad, and we see with horror the abyss into which it is being drawn. Let us lay aside every worldly care, and let us fall down in prayer and readiness for the dread Judgment of the Lord. Death will not come with bombs and poisons. Death has already come and take up residence with us and in us, and has made corpses of us, Mammon has overwhelmed this sinful world, which is dominated by Queen Science, Lucifer himself, which with one hand makes medicines and machines for man's foolish happiness and with the other terrorizes him by means of the bomb! Such is the sorry state of knowledge and the agony of the world through and through. Let us lift up our hearts.

-Photios Kontoglou (†1965) letter to Dr. Cavarnos dated 5/10/57

QUOTE

"Psychopaths are a superior subspecies. We transcend humanity. We are Nature's Supermen. We deserve the subservience and availability of everyone around us. Luckily, every year 100-million people are born throughout the world. We have 100-million new choices every year."

-Sam Vaknin, self-realized psychopath

QUOTE

Our Saviour placed the Church in the world in order to save the world, and Satan is always trying to place the world into the Church in order to destroy the Church.

attributed to Desert Fathers

QUOTE

"If you see lying and hypocrisy, expose them in front of all, even if they are clothed inpurple and fine linen."

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